2011 Mar Bolivia

WEFTA BOLIVIA VISIT REPORT MARCH 2011 Jason Gehrig Completed Suma Jayma/WEFTA school wash station in Condoriri (Sept ’10 S.J. photo) 1 I. ORURO-AREA MINING CONTAMINATION (local partners, CEPA & CORIDUP) A little background info on CEPA and CORIDUP, from Evan Cuthbert’s 2010 Huanuni case study write-up: When CEPA opened in 1995 their main focus was providing education and leadership formation for marginal communities, especially those of indigenous peoples. In their work, they emphasize the value of indigenous knowledge, environmental protection and intercultural respect and dialogue... In August 2006, CORIDUP was officially founded to organize local communities (over 60+) in the Desaguadero River and Uru Uru and Poopó Lakes Watershed to unify their collective action to address contamination of local waters and lands. Plaza in Oruro – No doubt that this is mining country. CEPA and CORIDUP very much welcome WEFTA’s technical expertise, asking that WEFTA’s work be carried out in close coordination with CORIDUP, and that WEFTA be open to collaborating with other sources of external support, such as CATAPI, which is a Belgian NGO with ties to academia there dedicated to providing technical support in environmental issues. In summary, CEPA/CORIDUP sees technical support from WEFTA being channeled toward two primary efforts, addressing mining contamination from: • The state-owned Huanuni tin mine • Two Newmont-owned gold mines 2 I-A. Huanuni Tin Mine (State-Owned) Downstream Watershed Contamination Background on Huanuni watershed contamination, from Evan Cuthbert’s 2010 Huanuni case study write-up: There are several mining operations in the Huanuni watershed. Many are small-scale, artisanal mining operations which include anywhere between one and thirty miners. The largest and most problematic is the Posokoni Mine owned by Empresa Minera Huanuni, S.A. (EMH), a subsidiary of the Bolivian state-owned mining company Oruro. This sub-surface mining operation holds one of the largest tin deposits in the world. There are also sizeable quantities of other minerals such as lead, zinc, and silver. Currently, EMH employs approximately five thousand workers at the site. Active mining at Posokoni has been going on since the year 1745. The minerals are processed at two mills on the shores of the Huanuni River: the Santa Elena mill, located at the mine in Huanuni, and the Machachamarca mill, approximately 25 kilometers downstream.i Combined, they process approximately 1,400 tons of minerals per day, with the Santa Elena mill processing the bulk – 1,200 tons per day. Neither mill uses tailings ponds to deposit and contain its contaminated tailings after processing. Instead, the operations dump their untreated tailings directly into the Huanuni River... In response to growing conflict over environmental degradation and public health problems, the Government of Bolivia in 2009 declared an emergency zone in the Huanuni watershed (a first in Bolivian history). Widespread Contamination Downstream of Huanuni (Sept ’10) 3 In this Emergency Declaration, specific objectives are outlined for beginning to address the problem. One of these is a short-term tailings retention that is 98% complete according to CORIDUP members, which should serve for 3 to 4 years. Pumping, hoses, etc. have yet to be installed. WEFTA’s potential role: To visit this facility and see if its construction is adequate to meet stated goals. Note: To date, CEPA has not been able to obtain a copy of the project design, although they think they may be able to do so. A permanent tailings retention facility is being planned, although resistance from a nearby local rural community is being encountered slowing down the land acquisition process. WEFTA’s potential role: To provide technical input toward design/construction of facility, perhaps in the form of review/comment of design documents under the overall umbrella of CEPA/CORIDUP’s social oversight of the Huanuni mining reclamation effort. The European Union is providing significant funding in seven downstream municipal jurisdictions, to be complemented by local and regional govt funding (30%) to improve access for water supply and irrigation purposes and other related projects. 36 projects have been identified for the first round of funding. WEFTA’s potential role: CORIDUP members also asked WEFTA to consider supporting them in their efforts to prepare project design proposals for safe water supply projects, necessary to seek funding for implementation. This would be similar to the work WEFTA is supporting in the northern Bolivian Altiplano being carried out by Suma Jayma. (and which SJ may be able to help out with). Construction of Temporary Tailings Holding Facility Located Just Upstream of Huanuni Tin Mine (Sept ’10) 4 I-B. Environmental Audit of Newmont Gold Mines In 1982 Inti Raymi (Newmont) began extracting gold at its open pit mine, Kori Kollo “Golden Mountain”. Since October 2003 a closure and rehabilitation process is being deployed. In 2005 Inti Raymi started a second mining project, Kori Chaka “Golden Bridge", a goldmine which is located in the urban zone of Oruro. CORIDUP which represents 60+ downstream communities is demanding an external environmental audit of the Inti Raymi mines and their downstream impacts. CORIDUP explained that they have very little confidence in the Inti Raymi mine’s internal environmental audit, based off of deceptive practices and stall tactics in the past. For that reason, CEPA/CORIDUP are carrying out an external environmental audit in coordination with the public university of Oruro, including the sampling of soil and water for analysis. WEFTA’s potential role: Review Inti Raymi’s draft environmental audits, its Kori Kollo mine closing plan, CEPA’s earlier review comments and assist with the independent environmental audit. Need technical assistance from WEFTA to help understand what is a technically viable mine closure & reclamation plan for these open-pit gold mines employing the use of cyanide. Assist CEPA in implementing the alternative, independent environmental audit planned to be completed by August of this year. Newmont Open Pit Gold Mine Evaporation Ponds (Sept ’10) I-C. Meeting Minutes from Visit with CEPA/CORIDUP Though the following is more detail than normally included in a country report, I figured it might be useful as WEFTA begins this new relationship with CEPA/CORIDUP in the months and years ahead. I traveled to the City of Oruro (located about 3 hours from El Alto-La Paz; 4 hours from Cochabamba by major highway; buses from El Alto leave hourly and cost around $5) to 5 meet with members of CEPA/CORIDUP for a couple hours. We were about ten people, including: • Gilberto Pauwels, Director of CEPA and Belgian Oblate Brother, • Felix Laime, president of CORIDUP, • Limbert Sanchez, CEPA formation lead (and member with whom we spent most of our time last September for the CRS case study prepared by Evan Cuthbert), • Clemente Paco, legal advisor to CEPA, • Two CATAPA volunteers from Belgium, Thomas Van Humbeeck and Hannah, (both of whom also speak English and Spanish; Thomas is a recently graduated mining engineer); More info on CATAPA at http://www.catapa.be/en. • Jaime Caichoca, an agricultural engineer working with the environmental social-justice team of CEPA • Maria Rafael, secretary of CORIDUP • Johnny Terrazas, member of CEPA Prior to the visit, I had forwarded to CEPA Spanish translations of: • Evan Cuthbert’s Huanuni case study prepared for CRS in late 2010, • Scott McKitrick’s letter expressing his desire to help and his resume with over 20 years of mining reclamation experience • WEFTA 2-page summary All of these documents helped the leadership of CEPA/CORIDUP understand that WEFTA was a reliable, trustworthy organization in general, and in particular, that members like Scott could provide them with very much needed technical expertise in helping address the significant mining contamination throughout the Oruro area. Child playing (and snacking) in Mining Tailings at Huanuni (Sept ’10) 6 Additional Notes from the Meeting: A key role being embraced by CEPA/CORIDUP is to provide what’s called “control social” en Spanish, or civil society oversight of the various actions being implemented. In order that their findings carry more weight, CEPA/CORIDUP often collaborate with the local public university or when possible with regional government entities. They pressure the different levels of government to commit to public funding of projects to carry out the course of action articulated in the Presidential Supreme Decree No. 0335, “Declaration of Environmental Emergency Zone,” dated October 21, 2009. Additional areas of concern are the lack of urban sewers in the City of Oruro, as well as the acidification of runoff from the San José mine located within the city limits of Oruro. The meeting ended with a very heartfelt request by members of CORIDUP – they wanted to know if there really is reason to have hope that their watershed can be restored, “from contaminated wasteland to renewed life.” If so, they wondered how long it might take if reclamation efforts are implemented correctly. Perhaps with WEFTA’s initial visit, some brief slides in a powerpoint of past successful mining reclamation efforts in the US might help provide some insights, and continued hope. The first step they all agreed was to get WEFTA’s mining reclamation specialists to Oruro as soon as possible, for as long of a visit as possible. I-D. In-Country Coordination Contacts & Next Steps for WEFTA Thomas Van Humbeeck is a mining engineer from Belgium who has been volunteering with CEPA for some time. He is quite familiar with the Newmont mining situation, having helped review and comment on the mining company’s environmental audit. He speaks English and Spanish, and would be a great contact with whom Scott could begin coordinating. Gilberto, director of CEPA, has asked that WEFTA coordinate primarily with Thomas ([email protected]; 591-71109269) and Jaime Caichoca, the agricultural engineer with CEPA ([email protected], 591-74131313).

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